Transportation requirement

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The following points for attention in international freight transportation are the author's personal experience and summary (constantly updated). These views are personal. No one can reprint without the author's consent.

1. Provide complete information of bill of lading

Complete information of bill of lading must be provided before shipment. If the complete information is provided to the freight forwarder or carrier for the purpose of checking the information only, the contents of the bill of lading shall be carefully checked, otherwise, any change after the submission of supplementary materials will result in a change fee. If the manifest is changed after it is sent, there will be not only a change fee, but also a fine.

2. Avoid huge changes in cross month freight

When there is a conflict between the delivery date and the production date, we should flexibly allocate with the freight forwarder in advance to avoid the loss caused by the change of freight at this time. Here, we especially remind the regions with large fluctuation of cross month freight.

3. The importance of subdividing ports

There are many ports in the world with similar spelling, and the same port is subdivided into different customs areas. Therefore, please confirm with the consignee the specific port of the receiving party. If you go to the wrong place, it will not only increase the cost, but also make the problem more complicated if you can't clear the customs.

4. Insurance is recommended

EXW or FOB is the trade term usually chosen by the factory. The risk of the goods after leaving the factory or crossing the ship's rail is borne by the buyer. Therefore, the buyer (i.e. the consignee) is advised to take out insurance. When problems are found, contact the insurance company immediately and provide complete claim information according to the instructions of the insurance company.

5. Make clear whether the brand is infringing, and pay attention to the registered but different brands

OEM cases are everywhere in foreign trade. For the independent brands of customers, the OEM factory should be given the power of attorney in advance, and whether the OEM brand has been registered in China. To avoid the confiscation of goods due to the inability to provide the power of attorney of the obligee and to communicate with the obligee during customs inspection.

6. For transhipment goods, transhipment clause shall be indicated on the bill of lading

For the goods to be transhipped across the border, transhipment clause must be added to the bill of lading. The consignee on the bill of lading can be the consignee of the country of final arrival.

7. Declare the true value of the goods

The value of the imported goods shall be true. If the value of the goods is falsely reported, once it is found, it will be fined at least, and even bear serious legal liability at the most.

8. The importance of reporting cargo weight and other special factors

Different means of transport can carry different weight on the container, generally limited weight. Therefore, it is necessary to make clear the weight of the goods. Overweight may increase the cost, and may also cause the carrier unable to undertake the transportation.

For air cargo, the weight and volume of the cargo (in addition to the total volume, we also need to know the size of each box [length, width and height]) before leaving the factory, and there should be no big error, otherwise the change of weight and volume will lead to the change of freight.

For special goods, the details of the goods shall be explained in advance.

9. Port of destination charges for bulk / LCL

The most typical problem of bulk cargo is that the quotation of different agents may vary greatly (some agents only quote ocean freight from China to the port of discharge, which is very low or even zero freight, but the port of discharge and the port of destination may charge a higher fee). Therefore, the consignee must ask the freight forwarder for the fee standard of the port of discharge or the port of destination before shipment, Alternatively, all expenses including the port of discharge or the port of destination (excluding storage charges) may be prepaid at the port of departure. Europe, Japan and India are the main regions with high costs abroad.

10. To protect the bill of lading and to deal with the loss of the bill of lading

If the original bill of lading is lost, a new bill of lading shall be issued, provided that the loss of the bill of lading is declared in the newspaper, and then 2-3 times of the value of the customs declaration shall be paid, which shall be deposited in the margin account of the shipping company for a certain period of time (1-3 years) as the security deposit (the deposit during this period has no interest). If no company has any objection to the bill of lading, the security deposit shall be refunded upon expiration of the guarantee period.

As for the guarantee money after the loss of the bill of lading, different shipping companies have different requirements, which is generally 2-3 times of the value of the goods. However, if the freight forwarder has strong negotiation ability, it can talk about one time of the value of the goods. Therefore, if you mail the original bill of lading (usually three copies), you must choose a reliable express company, or you can consider sending it twice with different safe and reliable express companies.

Of course, instead of the original bill of lading, the consignee can choose telex release. The consignee can take delivery of the goods by replacing the original bill of lading with telex release seal and telex release guarantee.

11. Special cabinet, large cargo transportation, rational use of NOR

Many oversized large-scale equipment need to use special cabinets. When contacting the agent, it is necessary to provide accurate packing scheme and the actual size of the goods, so that the captain can confirm the position of the goods on the ship. Because the freight rates of deck and bilge are very different, the freezer for food or special goods needs to be specified in advance for the requirements of temperature, full plug-in or port / ship constant temperature, which are closely related to the cost budget.

NOR (non operating reefer), that is to say, the freezer is used as an ordinary container to load ordinary goods without operating refrigeration equipment. Frozen meat and other products from South America are mainly exported to China, so ship owners will sell NOR on the return trip in order to adjust containers. For shippers, if NOR is applicable, the freight rate of the same period will be more favorable than that of ordinary containers, which is also a good way to save costs.